[2015.08.19] Morning Musume.'15 - Oh my wish! / SUKAtto My Heart / Ima Sugu Tobikomu Yuuki

[arcobaleno]

Farrah, please don't take this the wrong way as I truly do not mean it in this sense, but I've read your posts, and have been seeing them for over 2 years now and a lot of time you say how good MM used to be compared to now and show how MM's level of quality has fallen and been gone for years.
 
I'm just curious, if it's been this way for years, how haven't you just thrown your hands up in the air and said "screw it, MM is not even salvageable anymore"? Do you still think they could have a chance to return back to what they used to be in terms of quality? I think you have a good amount of steady opinions (that I tend to agree with) on this sort of thing, so it's just been a curiosity to me all this time why you still check in on them only to be continually disappointed.
 
And again, I don't mean this in like a "why are you even a FAN if you just complain all the time!?!?!" way, I just want to know your thoughts and feelings about this.

[momoirosaya]

I wish they would stop with the Hello Station versions and just show part of the PV. They've already cut the amount they show us. I want to see the dance, not only closeups :(


Sukatto preview and talk about Zukki weight loss. Apparently she lost 10k (22lbs)! Good for her!
<a class="bbc_url" href="https://youtu.be/L2ovy7RKdgo">https://y ... y7RKdgo</a>

[Elpis]

[quote="Saya"]
I wish they would stop with the Hello Station versions and just show part of the PV. They've already cut the amount they show us. I want to see the dance, not only closeups :(


Sukatto preview and talk about Zukki weight loss. Apparently she lost 10k (22lbs)! Good for her!
<a class="bbc_url" href="https://youtu.be/L2ovy7RKdgo">https://y ... y7RKdgo</a>
[/quote]
 
I don't like the Hello! Station versions either. There's just something about them...I can usually like/deal with the full MV when its released though.
 
The YouTube video you linked has also been deleted.

[Farrah]

[quote="arcobaleno"]
Farrah, please don't take this the wrong way as I truly do not mean it in this sense, but I've read your posts, and have been seeing them for over 2 years now and a lot of time you say how good MM used to be compared to now and show how MM's level of quality has fallen and been gone for years.
 
I'm just curious, if it's been this way for years, how haven't you just thrown your hands up in the air and said "screw it, MM is not even salvageable anymore"? Do you still think they could have a chance to return back to what they used to be in terms of quality? I think you have a good amount of steady opinions (that I tend to agree with) on this sort of thing, so it's just been a curiosity to me all this time why you still check in on them only to be continually disappointed.
 
And again, I don't mean this in like a "why are you even a FAN if you just complain all the time!?!?!" way, I just want to know your thoughts and feelings about this.
[/quote]
 
I feel like the answer to your question exists within your question; ""screw it, MM is not even salvageable anymore"?" is not something I'd say because it's not something I feel.  If MM were a lost cause to me, I wouldn't even bother complaining.  It's so irritating to be a fan for me sometimes because all of the things chipping away at the group's quality are totally preventable.  Bad singers?  More vocal training and stop picking girls based on who seems like they'll have the most wota.  Cheap, mindless videos?  Hire some people with exciting ideas.  Boring members?  Stop telling them to act like honor students because they need to be a blank canvas for wota to project their waifu fantasies onto.  I guess it just sucks to feel like a company that used to have a lot more artistic vision sacrifice that for the sake of giving middle aged wota something to fap to.
 
Plus, I go where the songs are.  I really genuinely love idol music - when I first got into it, I knew nothing about wota culture or things of that nature, largely because this board was the first idol board I encountered.  Acting like a wota is literally against the rules here so I managed to escape ever having a "weaboo" or "white girl otaku" phase.  All I knew was that the songs were cool and unlike any of the mainstream western pop I had grown up with - the way groups would hop from an RnB single to something with classical music influences to flamenco style was so exotic to me because even though I loved some bubblegum pop, Britney Spears et al were not exactly famed for their musicality LOL.  It's crazy to think that songs like The Peace, Koi no Dance Site, Shouganai Yume Oibito, Iroppoi Jirettai and Ai no Tane all come from the same artist, and some of them released fairly close together.
 
Idol music is cool to me because it's easy to find these little nuggets of really inspired music wrapped up in the unexpected packaging of something that seems so dishonest and manufactured.  Seriously, some H!P songs may as well be prog for how weird their arrangements are yet they're being sung by a group of underaged girls with lyrics about wanting to confess to their first crush (even when some of the members are in their 20's). Although this current era of EDMusume is one that appeals to my tastes the least, they're still consistently putting out songs I love (Yuugure wa Ameagari, Toki wo Koe, and What is LOVE off the top of my head) - as long as that remains to be true, I will keep popping my head in periodically even if other things about how the group is run drive me mad.
 
I understand your question and had a feeling someone would ask me this sooner or later since the vast majority of my posts tend to be very critical, but to be honest, when I like something I tend to just go "Ooo, that's awesome." and move on LOL I pretty much only get inspired to post when I'm fired up about something.

 

[arcobaleno]

[quote="Farrah"]
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="arcobaleno" data-cid="190255" data-time="1438185728">
<div>
Farrah, please don't take this the wrong way as I truly do not mean it in this sense, but I've read your posts, and have been seeing them for over 2 years now and a lot of time you say how good MM used to be compared to now and show how MM's level of quality has fallen and been gone for years.
 
I'm just curious, if it's been this way for years, how haven't you just thrown your hands up in the air and said "screw it, MM is not even salvageable anymore"? Do you still think they could have a chance to return back to what they used to be in terms of quality? I think you have a good amount of steady opinions (that I tend to agree with) on this sort of thing, so it's just been a curiosity to me all this time why you still check in on them only to be continually disappointed.
 
And again, I don't mean this in like a "why are you even a FAN if you just complain all the time!?!?!" way, I just want to know your thoughts and feelings about this.
[/quote]
 
I feel like the answer to your question exists within your question; ""screw it, MM is not even salvageable anymore"?" is not something I'd say because it's not something I feel.  If MM were a lost cause to me, I wouldn't even bother complaining.  It's so irritating to be a fan for me sometimes because all of the things chipping away at the group's quality are totally preventable.  Bad singers?  More vocal training and stop picking girls based on who seems like they'll have the most wota.  Cheap, mindless videos?  Hire some people with exciting ideas.  Boring members?  Stop telling them to act like honor students because they need to be a blank canvas for wota to project their waifu fantasies onto.  I guess it just sucks to feel like a company that used to have a lot more artistic vision sacrifice that for the sake of giving middle aged wota something to fap to.
 
Plus, I go where the songs are.  I really genuinely love idol music - when I first got into it, I knew nothing about wota culture or things of that nature, largely because this board was the first idol board I encountered.  Acting like a wota is literally against the rules here so I managed to escape ever having a "weaboo" or "white girl otaku" phase.  All I knew was that the songs were cool and unlike any of the mainstream western pop I had grown up with - the way groups would hop from an RnB single to something with classical music influences to flamenco style was so exotic to me because even though I loved some bubblegum pop, Britney Spears et al were not exactly famed for their musicality LOL.  It's crazy to think that songs like The Peace, Koi no Dance Site, Shouganai Yume Oibito, Iroppoi Jirettai and Ai no Tane all come from the same artist, and some of them released fairly close together.
 
Idol music is cool to me because it's easy to find these little nuggets of really inspired music wrapped up in the unexpected packaging of something that seems so dishonest and manufactured.  Seriously, some H!P songs may as well be prog for how weird their arrangements are yet they're being sung by a group of underaged girls with lyrics about wanting to confess to their first crush (even when some of the members are in their 20's). Although this current era of EDMusume is one that appeals to my tastes the least, they're still consistently putting out songs I love (Yuugure wa Ameagari, Toki wo Koe, and What is LOVE off the top of my head) - as long as that remains to be true, I will keep popping my head in periodically even if other things about how the group is run drive me mad.
 
I understand your question and had a feeling someone would ask me this sooner or later since the vast majority of my posts tend to be very critical, but to be honest, when I like something I tend to just go "Ooo, that's awesome." and move on LOL I pretty much only get inspired to post when I'm fired up about something.
 
</div>
</blockquote>
 
Thank you for you reply! It made a ton of sense, and was very interesting to see how it's been a part of you, in a way.
 
Haha, I totally feel you on the never posting when liking something. It's one of the reasons I've probably seem to have disappeared from here lately. I'm not very skilled at really seeing how bad something is (unless it's a truly horrid singer -- eek), so I've just mostly been like "Hmm, I don't mind this" but posting just that seems like a waste to me, really.
 
Also, I didn't include it in my original post since it felt weird to include it in there, but I also agree 100% on your opinion about AKB, too. I LOVED their stage albums so much (I still listen to them regularly) and there were a ton of really good songs, but after 2012, they just really dived into becoming a product and relying solely on the wota to keep them afloat, and as such, I haven't enjoyed anything from them in years, bleh.
 
With MM, since I'm relatively new to it, I likely still have big blinders on, but I tend to be far less critical of them than I am other groups that mainly rely on wota power over talent. I know there's the whole issue of idols usually being about wota-reliance moreso than talent, etc., but in a lot of ways I wish MM could go back to their early days when they kind of rejected the idol "culture" in favor of some of the most entertaining songs I've ever seen. 
 
Anyway, once again, thank you!
 
----
 
Posting more on topic here, I really liked the snippet of Sukatto's MV we got to see, and I think Sukatto in general is my favorite song on this as a whole. Imasugu feels a bit generic to me, though it's cute, to the point that I can't ever remember what it sounds like... and while I love the change of centers for Oh my wish!, and do like the song, there's just something missing in it for me.
 
Sukatto, though, has me wanting to bop around and dance, lol.

[Farrah]

I'm really not feeling Sukatto but I'm very hard to win over when it comes to funk-inspired idol songs.  The ones I love I really, really love but the ones I hate may as well not even exist to me.
Ima Sugu kind of gives me an anime ending feeling for some reason and I'm into that LOL.  Unfortunately, I have some sneaking suspicion that it's going to be the song they put the least effort into promoting since it doesn't really have an upbeat feel.

[JPope]

[quote="Farrah"]
 
Idol music is cool to me because it's easy to find these little nuggets of really inspired music wrapped up in the unexpected packaging of something that seems so dishonest and manufactured.  
[/quote]
 
I think that idol-pop is just about the most honest music there is, because it's not pretending to be anything more than it is. 

[WonderBuono]

Sukatto looks like it will have a good video, but the Hello! Station edit was awful. XD It was basically all close-ups and several other shots that went by way too quickly. The song has DEFINITELY grown on me, though. I really like it. :)

[Farrah]

[quote="JPope"]
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Farrah" data-cid="190269" data-time="1438206822">
<div>
 
Idol music is cool to me because it's easy to find these little nuggets of really inspired music wrapped up in the unexpected packaging of something that seems so dishonest and manufactured.  
[/quote]
 
I think that idol-pop is just about the most honest music there is, because it's not pretending to be anything more than it is. 
 
</div>
</blockquote>
 

The music, yes.  The industry and the way the girls are marketed as pretend-waifus, no LOL that's what I was talking about.  I mean, everything from their hairstyles to their personalities is influenced by the company on a level that doesn't really happen in any other industry, right down to dating bans.  Nothing honest about that imo.  That's why idol music being so, idk,  unpredictable sometimes builds such an interesting dichotomy to me.

[JPope]

[quote="Farrah"]
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="JPope" data-cid="190277" data-time="1438223531">
<div>
 
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Farrah" data-cid="190269" data-time="1438206822">
<div>
 
Idol music is cool to me because it's easy to find these little nuggets of really inspired music wrapped up in the unexpected packaging of something that seems so dishonest and manufactured.  
[/quote]
 
I think that idol-pop is just about the most honest music there is, because it's not pretending to be anything more than it is. 
 
</div>
</blockquote>
 
The music, yes.  The industry and the way the girls are marketed as pretend-waifus, no LOL that's what I was talking about.  I mean, everything from their hairstyles to their personalities is influenced by the company on a level that doesn't really happen in any other industry, right down to dating bans.  Nothing honest about that imo.  That's why idol music being so, idk,  unpredictable sometimes builds such an interesting dichotomy to me.
 
</div>
</blockquote>
 
Yeah, that's true, although I think there is a willing suspension of disbelief from everyone involved -- even most of the fans -- with the image and marketing. They know that part is fake but go along with it because it's fun.

[momoirosaya]

Imasugu PV is out!
<a class="bbc_url" href="http://youtu.be/-vE3NZIW8e0">http://you ... NZIW8e0</a>


I kind of wished they had some slow-mo shots of them jumping off the blocks or something. The tune scenes should have been slow-moed because you can see the girls struggle to keep those positions.


Plain PV, but the color scheme they have going is really nice, similar to Yuugure. This is my favorite song on this single though so I'm just glad everyone looks pretty. I didnt expect much anyways because it's the 3rd song (less focused on).

[Mugi]

I love it but I wish Miki had more lines lol. The one she got was nice I would like to hear more.  This is more like a Masaki center with a Miki off Center haha.  Also less Riho please.  Girl is beautiful but needs to sing less especially in softer songs.  Her voice has such an edge to it.

[MejraThea]

I like the song now that I've seen it with the PV. This PV is leagues better than the Oh my wish! PV.
 
Without being biased, I can say that's not a good advisement, Mugi. Riho is best on softer songs. E.g. Lilium, Triangle, Stacies. Slower, softer songs are what she sounds best on.

[arcobaleno]

Everyone looked really beautiful, song is STILL beyond boring as hell for me. Was nice to hear a little Miki solo, though I'm surprised that for being co-led by her, they didn't really give her more than 1 that I saw, but I guess that was hoping for a bit too much.
 
I was also disappointed that Makino got a solo line and not Haga... (I'm kind of not holding out hope of Oharu getting one because... she's not that good, though she's gotten better) but I'll survive. I'm just too biased towards her. T.T
 
Anyway, I agree with Saya that the color scheme was really pretty! I also thought Erina was really stunning. Go get it, girl.

[momoirosaya]

^But Haga and Haachin got their speaking line in Omw, and Maria hasn't had any solo lines yet.


Miki has 2 solos. That "Tobitatou" at the end is hers as well. Some people say she has a third one in there too. Where she has that closeup after the bridge before Maachan's solo. It's possible, but it's hard to tell right now.


Also I just noticed that the dance group makes a little comeback in the song during the dance break.

[arcobaleno]

Hahaha, I know! I'm glad they got that really good exposure. I'm just a spoiled brat now.
 
And ah, I see, about Miki's other line!

[star]

I really love Imasugu, but I must say that I really didn't like Riho's voice in it. I felt her voice stood out a bit too much. I'm so happy they are finally letting Masaki use a voice that sounds good because its so lovely.  I wasn't planning to buy this, but Imasugu has convinced me.

[Derby]

I should have known, Masaki-Miki lead = Miki singing duets with Masaki's voice over hers and some group lines...
 
[quote="Star"]
I really love Imasugu, but I must say that I really didn't like Riho's voice in it. I felt her voice stood out a bit too much. I'm so happy they are finally letting Masaki use a voice that sounds good because its so lovely.  I wasn't planning to buy this, but Imasugu has convinced me.
[/quote]
 
I was about to say that this is the first time I think Riho sounds reeaally bad in the audio. Here and Sukatto her voice sounds so strained I can't even ignore it

[MejraThea]

Here's the audio from all three ripped, no instrumentals. Yeah never mind the difference in quality between the three is horrid....

[Elpis]

The song doesn't really impress me that much but everyone sounded nice and looked good. It was a fairly Masaki centered song and I'm glad she used her good voice. The MV is really pretty, it's kind of plain and cheap but all the colors looked good and gave it a weird dreamy effect. The camera also wasn't fast so I got opportunities to actually see and identify most of the girls.

[Noa]

This single is really great overall. For me it's oh my wish > imasugu > sukatto my heart


The PV is really pretty and I'm really happy Maria got a solo line. Riho really doesn't sound good here, the last time she was this bad was Help Me. Maybe it's time to give her a break and let the other girls shine. Also I'm really impressed with Masaki. If she keeps up singing like this, she could win me over.

[smtmissin]

Akane is so pretty. Masaki is exceptionally pretty. Erina and Miki quite stood out. Riho's voice is horrible. I like the pose where they raise their arms and lower their head.
http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo192/smtmissin/imasugu.png
I like Maa's pose the most. She looks so graceful.
I see that pose often but my head is fuzzy I can't really spell out where. Is it like the pose stage actor do to greet the audience after their performance?

[WonderBuono]

This is a pretty good single overall, I think. Nothing "wows" me, but I genuinely like every song, and the different centers for each one makes it interesting. I don't even have a ranking for the songs because they all have different strengths and weaknesses.
 
The MVs on the other hand.... yeah, Imasugu's is pretty cheap, and I feel like the outfits don't fit the song. But still... Masaki-Miki center!!!!!

[momoirosaya]

Another SUKAtto PV Preview, 30 seconds long

[WonderBuono]

Okay, I can't stop listening to Imasugu now. The more I listen to it the more I love it!

[momoirosaya]

EVEN LONGER PV preview for Sukatto 2 whole minutes.
Basically the same length as previewed on HS but without the unnecessary close-ups.
 
I'm liking that filter they have going on for the Sukatto and Imasugu PV's. Everyone looks like they're glowing.

[TicTacAnyone]

[quote="Saya"]
EVEN LONGER PV preview for Sukatto 2 whole minutes.
Basically the same length as previewed on HS but without the unnecessary close-ups.
 
I'm liking that filter they have going on for the Sukatto and Imasugu PV's. Everyone looks like they're glowing.
[/quote]
 
??? Are you sure? It seems like it's the same, frame for frame--all the same close-ups and everything. I don't see any differences when watching them one after the other =o
 
I loooove the colors in SUKAtto, though... Just my taste. I could watch it all day just for the color combos.

[momoirosaya]

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="TicTacAnyone" data-cid="190378" data-time="1438491096"><blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="Saya" data-cid="190376" data-time="1438489707">EVEN LONGER PV preview for Sukatto 2 whole minutes.
Basically the same length as previewed on HS but without the unnecessary close-ups.
 
I'm liking that filter they have going on for the Sukatto and Imasugu PV's. Everyone looks like they're glowing.</blockquote> 
??? Are you sure? It seems like it's the same, frame for frame--all the same close-ups and everything. I don't see any differences when watching them one after the other =o
 
I loooove the colors in SUKAtto, though... Just my taste. I could watch it all day just for the color combos.</blockquote>
You’re right...why did it feel like there were less closeups to me then? Maybe I was too entranced by their idol aura... justignore my posts everyone T__T

[TicTacAnyone]

SUKAtto My Heart promotion edit is heeeere! More dance shot/followed dance shot, less up close. Keep in mind this is also the first time we're hearing the whole song! <33
 
But like, this video has one major flaw... And I'm sorry if I point it out and you didn't notice. But the subtitles. After 2:05 they change the font format. Slightly. I swear. 
 

Spoiler: [+]

 

[momoirosaya]

They've been uploading the videos earlier now. And they've stopped uploading the dance shots and including them on the DVD's. I wonder why...I want to see them :/


They need a guest director again though. These PV's are nice and all, but they don't offer much creatively.


Overall I did like this, but in the same way I liked Tobikomu. I like the color scheme and how cute everyone is. And I do really like all 3 songs. I think this is one of the best singles of the Colorful Era.